Bully the Bullfrog

Look what I found when giving my backyard pond a facelift. Tucked inside a concrete block, I stuck my hand in and he slimed me. Since we apparently disturbed his habitat, we placed Bully behind a rock to make him feel like he was hidden. As we worked we kept an eye on him. Once the pond was finished my husband placed him on top of the waterfall where he promptly jumped into the pond. I'm not sure how a bullfrog makes it to town, but here's the proof. Looks like we have yet another pet!

How to Grow Lemon Balm

Growing the herb lemon balm is pretty simple. All you need is a large planter, a couple of lemon balm plants or a packet of seed, and Miracle grow potting mix. I picked this planter up at Walmart for about $25.00. (It's plastic but you can't tell it!) After a couple of seasons your efforts will look this this. I actually had some chives and a couple of other herbs planted, but as you can see the lemon balm won.

How to Choose the Best Perennial

And here it is:















This perennial is called a Gaillardia. The common name is Arizona Sun. I have been pleasantly surprised by it. We bought two from Lowe's last summer and they stayed green throughout the winter here and then promptly began blooming in April of this year. This year both plants are three times their purchase size. I'm thinking I need about 4 or 5 more to complete my front border. I really like this! I have not seen them at Lowe's so far this year. I'm going to keep checking back though and if I can't find them Burpee carries them online.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4917745_choose-perennials.html

How to Host a Crawfish Boil

Every year, or almost anyway, we have a crawfish boil at our house. Crawfish season runs from February to May each year. As long as there have been no hurricanes during crawfish season the mud bugs should be plentiful. We were unable to host a crawfish boil in 2008 due to the numerous weather patterns. Here is an article that will outline how to do this and also a link to another site that gives more detail on how to cook crawfish.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4871195_host-crawfish-boil-party.html